Blacklight virus
The Blacklight virus is the basis of evolution of all life on Earth. It is a chimeric mutation-causing infectious agent that can replicate only inside the living cells of other organisms. Characteristics Infection The virus is highly contagious and can infect organisms by multiple means including bites from The Infected and/or Hunters, injection, or exposure to non-organic infectious agents such as Infected Water Towers and Hives. It can also be contracted by open wounds or exposure to infected bodily fluids. Effects After infection, the virus "plugs in" and activates the junk DNA in a target, causing biological changes that create (and recreate) a sentient mind inside the infected creature. It acts by affecting the protein encoding regions of the promoter introns in each cell. As a retrovirus, it contains both RNA and the reverse transcriptase enzyme, allowing it to insert its own genetic code into living cells. It enters, re-purposes and changes the cell, replicating previously dormant non-coding segments of DNA. More often than not, these changes are too drastic and 99.99% of subjects suffer massive organ failure, cell saturation, and death. However, some variants have yielded other beneficial results; endowing the infected organisms with superhuman abilities far superior to non-infected life forms, these variants include DX-1120 and DX-1118 C. Variants Redlight (DX-1118 A) For programs Carnival I and Carnival II scientists isolated a virus strain codenamed Redlight. To test it, military families of different nationalities were taken into Hope, Idaho, officially as part of a test of a self-sufficient town in the face of nuclear war. The virus found the perfect host in Elizabeth Greene, as her genetic makeup was uniquely suited to its purposes. Greene became a staging ground for new mutant strains and Blacklight variants which were extracted from her blood. The military forces from Fort Detrick were forced to cleanse the town, though some townspeople attempted to fight them off. For two days the military skirmished with the victims, but finally they pulled out and shelled the town. The military moved in as the last survivors barricaded themselves in the hospital. Elizabeth Greene gave birth while the military struck, to a son who was later codenamed 'PARIAH' and the two of them were immediately deemed military assets. Blacklight (DX-1118 C) A group of scientists led by Dr. Alex Mercer managed to synthesize a new virus strain which they named BLACKLIGHT. They were trying to use it to cure diseases such as cancer (unknowing of the real goal, to engineer a new version of the REDLIGHT virus that could copy and combine genetic traits to re-write living creatures).Joseph Schulze The scientists soon became suspicious, noting that a large portion of virus variants had deadly effects on test animals. The BLACKLIGHT virus' effects are variable and far more infectious than the Idaho strain. The BLACKLIGHT virus outbreak does not follow the pattern of the Hope outbreak: it causes too many infections, spreads over too wide an area, and leaves too many surviving entities. The BLACKLIGHT virus mortality rate is lower than that of the REDLIGHT virus, and the incubation period is much longer. The full capabilities of the BLACKLIGHT virus were unknown even to the scientists who synthesized it (including Alex).William D. Weber Thankfully, the BLACKLIGHT virus is incapable of crossing large water bodies such as the Hudson River, leaving it stranded on Manhattan Island. The BLACKLIGHT virus can make Walkers but it's unknown if Alex can control these Walkers, it should be noted that Greene can't control who is infected with this strain of BLACKLIGHT virus. DX-1120 161 soldiers were injected with this variant in Project D-CODE. This variant causes no deaths. The virus' replication and re-growth of the organism was completed in less than two days. The subjects showed dramatic increases in metabolic rate, strength, and reaction times. There have been no side effects manifested to date. This variant is only 3 weeks old and is responsible for creating Super Soldiers, which are agile, strong, and formidable foes. References Category:Blackwatch Category:Infected Category:Prototype Wiki Category:Pathogen